


Just Your Average Love Affair

by Jeniouis



Category: Avengers (2012), Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Animal Cruelty?, Animan Cruelty?, Bird!Sam, Hulcon, Human Cruelty?, Kidnapping, M/M, Merpeople AU, Sickfic (ish), Soulmate AU, Wingfic (ish), Work In Progress, merman!Steve
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-09
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-02-20 12:05:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2428082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jeniouis/pseuds/Jeniouis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some people look for supernatural sea creatures in books, on TV, might even go on a sea adventure to try an hunt down the Lock Ness monster. </p><p>All while Tony has a sea creature chillin' out behind his home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Tony yawned and stretched as he walked up the steps that lead from his basement lab to the living room, but he turned left at the head of the stairs and continued out to his balcony, smiling at the picturesque view. He came here often when he needed a break from his work or just life in general. He would gaze at the the wonderful view he had of the Pacific Ocean. And the calm he got from the scene was profound. It was truly beautiful; he wished he were a painter so he could capture it. Tony tried once and that little experiment ended horribly. Tony looked down at the huge boulders protruding from the rushing waters below his home. He liked to watch the waves crash against the slabs of rocks. It was amazing every time.

But today when Tony looked down at the far off ocean below, he found someone looking back up at him. The person waved and Tony, offhandedly and still burned out for working for three days straight without sleep, waved back. With a smile, he turned to go back inside, maybe grab some coffee (black with expresso) before he really registered what just happened...

There was a human being...below his house...in the wave ridden, God knows how cold ocean...And they waved at him!

Tony nearly feel over the balcony when he rushed back to ask that person just what the hell they were doing. But when he looked down, there was no one there. Nothing but the crashing waves.

Tony shook himself and chuckled, putting it off as a hallucination from under eating and sleep, and walked back into his home figuring he better grab some food with that coffee.

He didn't see the person resurface from the deep water to watch him walk away.

A few months later, Tony was jogging on his private beach and he was headed back to the house when he caught someone swimming in the ocean behind his home. He couldn't get a good look at them because they swam behind some rocks at hyper speed. They really shouldn't have been swimming in Tony's private property but the billionaire couldn't bring himself to care. He was more curious about where this person came from. There wasn't another home within thirty miles of his...And why had this person decided to swim in such a dangerous spot.

 _"Must be one of those world record swimmers."_ Tony thought as he walked into his home to take a much needed shower.

He didn't see the guy peek his head from behind the rock to watch him walk inside.

~

"That should just about do it." Bruce said as he finished pouring the last of the clear liquid they needed for their project into a canister and Tony came up behind him to quickly cover chemical containers before something exploded. He just cleaned up a mess he made last week.

"Great. So now we're supposed to see how this stuff reacts in water, right?" Tony asked. This was not really his area. He was a mechanical engineer, a technology craftsman. He could easily learn it if he wanted to but it just so happened that he didn't. Bruce was a some-sort-of-specialized biology major. Tony didn't really pay attention when his friend (best friend actually) told him about a year ago. Tony had been too drunk to process what he was saying. He wished he had, that way he would know exactly why Bruce made him help in running this experiment for his summer project. They were both sophomores at Shield University.

"Yep, I'm leaving the ocean water up to you since it's in your...backyard?" Bruce said and Tony chuckled. "And I'll take my canister to the lake by my house. All you have to do is pour it in and everyday, for five days straight check the area you poured it into. When you do, fill out this." Bruce said as he handed Tony an observation sheet design to record information for this specific experiment.

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm doing half your work for you?" Tony said as he look at the extensive observations he would have to make for a project that wasn't even for his major.

"One word: Dummy." Bruce said simply and Tony looked over in the corner of his lab where his faithful one-armed robot was readily waiting with a fire extinguisher in hand.

"Point taken." Tony said with a carefree shrug. He supposed it was good for experience. "Though I demand an extra large Chocolate Mocha Dream for my efforts." Tony said and Bruce laughed, turning to clean up the stuff from their experiment. "No, I'm serious. There's a coffee shop down the street, the first corner on your left." Tony said seriously.

"That's not down the street Tony, that's thirty miles away." Bruce said and Tony shrugged.

"I am not working for free. Besides, grab a bunch of shit and you can just crash here tonight. We can have a science bro slumber party." Tony said. Bruce rolled his eyes but did grab his car keys from the lab table.

"Whatever Tony, you spoiled bastard." Bruce said as he walked towards the stairs.

"And you love it." Tony called after him, smirking when his friend glared at him before jogging up the stairs. Tony grabbed a canister and started walking to the back of his lab. He had a deck that stretched out from his lab floor and protruded from the rock below his home. Tony just had it built in about a year ago. It was high so it wouldn't be crushed by waves but it was no less wonderful and Tony's legs could still reach the water on the calm days, when the water was still. Tony had a huge reclining lawn chair out there and a book he always left beside the chair so he could sit by the ocean and read on the very, _very_ few free days he had.

"Jarvis, open my back door, will ya." Tony said as he started walking towards the deck.

"Certainly sir." The AI chimed as the door slowly started to lift.

The first thing Tony noticed was that there was something redish-purple in his chair. As the door raised, he realized that there were several redish-purple things in his chair. Tentacles actually. And while Tony was trying to figure out how an octopus got into his chair, the door continued to raise to reveal a man. A human fucking man attached to those very tentacles. And to top it off, he was reading Tony's book.

Just to recount because God, Tony had to process all of this: There was a man...Attached to tentacles from the waist down where his legs should have been...Totally chillin in Tony's lawn chair...Reading a book. Granted, he was an attractive man. The part of him that was human anyway with bright azure eyes, beautiful honest face, golden blonde hair but still...WHAT THE FUCK WAS HE?!

The guy startled at the sudden action of the moving door and turned to look at Tony, his eyes owlishly wide, his jaw dropped as if he were just caught stealing cookies. Tony didn't know what he looked like but he was too shocked to yell, to scared to talk, to stunned to move.

Tony took a chance to blink and when his eyes opened again, he see the last of the guy's tentacles follow him into the water.

Tony just continued to stand there, completely frozen in wonderment and shock, wondering why strange shit keeps happening to him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. :O

"Tony?" Bruce called out to the engineer. But Tony was too busy staring down into the water, trying to find that damn octoman, octomerman, eight legged freak, whatever the fuck he was called. He kept pacing from one end of his deck to the other, trying to see something in the blue, trembling of the water but all he saw were rocks and boulders. "Tony, if there was a reaction, you would have seen it by now." Bruce said, coming up behind Tony and touching his shoulder. Tony jumped as if his friend's hand seared his skin but he was still kind of creeped out by what he saw. "Are you alright?" Bruce asked, looking every bit of concerned.

"Um, huh? Oh yeah, fine, fine." Tony said distractedly as he went back to searching the water.

"Did some of our chemicals go to your head?" Bruce asked, sounding thoroughly confused.

"Oh, no, no, I haven't even done the experiment yet." Tony said as he ran a hand over his face. "Yeah, just saw something sort of...strange, yeah. By the way, what do you know about mermaids?" Tony asked as he dropped to all fours when he saw something moving under the water. He looked very intensely at the movement and yep, that was a tentacle curled up beside a rock under the water. Tony very slowly and very quietly rose to his feet, turning to look a very bemused Bruce. "Oh, just chill out for a second, I'll be right back. Just stay here." Tony whispered, then quietly speed off before his friend even had a chance to answer. Tony just tiptoed into his lab as quickly as he could, picking up a long, thin rod and went back to the deck in the same fast yet quiet manner.

"Tony what is going on?" Bruce whispered frantically, obviously wondering if his best friend had lost his mind.

"I think I've made an awesome discovery." Tony said as he gentle eased to the edge of the deck again, quietly and slowly dropping to the edge. He looked over at Bruce, motioning for him to come over then put a finger over his lips to signal to be quiet about it. Bruce nodded and tiptoed over to him, gently crouching down beside Tony who pointed at the tentacle that was thankfully still there.

"It's probably an octopus. So what?" Bruce whispered in confusion and Tony nearly snorted. He slowly led the rod into the water and slowly pushed it down until he poked the tentacle. It snatched away and there was clearly some movement on the other side of the rocks because bubble started popping up and the water was suddenly troubled but the guy didn't come out. Much to Tony's disappointment.

"Hey fella, out there, who was in my chair earlier, you can come on out now. I'm not going to hurt you. And there's no one out here but me like I told you before. Well no, now there's Bruce but he's my best friend and he won't hurt you. We just want to talk. You're quite fascinating to us, you know?" Tony said to the water, trying to prompt the guy to come out of his hiding spot. There were a few more bubbles before the water went still. Tony pouted, turning to Bruce who was staring at him with the most bewildered, fearful, wild look. "Oh, when I came out here earlier, there was a guy with tentacle legs sitting in my chair." Tony explained matter-of-factly. And the look on Bruce's face deepened before he started laughing. Tony tried to shush him so he wouldn't scare of octoman away. Though it didn't seem like he was going to come out anyway.

"Oh Tony, only you would go this far for a prank. God, this is why I hate you." Bruce said without any force in his words as he stood and grabbed the canister, preparing to pour it in the water but Tony jumped to his feet and rushed over to him, stopping him.

“No wait, you might kill him. Or his friends. He probably has some fish he talks to like Ariel and Flounder. He might even have a whole family down there and they’re singing Kiss the Girl, or boy in this matter.” Tony said, a hundred percent sincerely. Bruce glared at him before and moved pass him to go put the solution into the water but Tony grabbed the other handle on the container and the two scientist wrestled over the object but stopped when they noticed movement out the corners of their eyes. Both of their heads snapped to see what moved and they caught the end trail of tentacles flowing underneath the deck.

Smart move. Made at a smart time. Had they both not been extremely attentive from being scientist and having to be incredibly careful with their experiments and projects, they probably would have never seen him. And he had been extremely stealthy, quiet, and quick. Incredibly quick.

Bruce paused and leaned into Tony, whispering, "Did that octopus just wait until we were preoccupied before he moved? Can octopuses even think like that?" Bruce asked and Tony's brow furrowed.

"Octopi, the plural is octopi I think." Tony said quietly, still not wanting the man with eight legs to hear him. Bruce set down his side of the canister and Tony snatch the container over to him and stepped in front of it. His friend rolled his eyes while taking his phone out of his pocket, his fingers typing away on the screen. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, googling the plural of octopus." Bruce said. "It says it can either be octopuses, octopods, or octopi." Tony nodded and had actually almost forgotten about the merman until he looked down and saw the reddish-purple tentacles between the slabs of wood that made up his deck. Tony pointed down so Bruce could see what he was seeing and started to quietly move, motioning for Bruce to follow him. His friend did and Tony kept moving until he saw the beige pink skin of a human being. Tony couldn't get a good look at the guy but he appeared to be hiding behind some boulder underneath the wood. He seemed every bit of fearful.

When Bruce saw him he gasped, loudly, then covered his mouth with his hand but it was too late. The guy heard him and cowered a little into the shadows, his trail of tentacles following behind him, then raising up and covering him, appearing to be the side of a rock. That's probably why it took so long for Tony to see him because right now the merman was indistinguishable from the boulder he was attached to.

"Dude!" Bruce mouthed and Tony nodded frantically, knowing exactly how his friend felt.

"I got a plan." Tony whispered after a moment. "Stay here." Tony said and Bruce nodded. The engineer tiptoe-ran into his lab again and grabbed the newest StarkPad he had invented. The feature he added was that it was a thousand percent waterproof. He went back to Bruce. "Has he moved?" Tony asked, glad when his friend shook his head. Tony pulled up the video camera app on the pad, connected the video back to his phone then pulled up a screen and typed in the message: HI. Bruce shook his head.

"That's the best you could come up with." Bruce whispered, taking the pad out of Tony's hands and typing: HI! HOW ARE YOU? Tony rolled his eyes because that was lame. He took the pad back and typed: HEY! WHAT'S UP! :). Bruce looked at it and shrugged. Tony counted that as a win and went to the edge of his deck, and dropped pad into the water. He looked back at Bruce mouthing,

"Is he still there?"

Bruce nodded so Tony took the rod from earlier and pushed the pad up against a rock. When it was situated the way Tony wanted, he went back inside, pulling Bruce in with him. When they were back in the lab, Tony closed the door and Bruce glared at him as if he had lost him mind.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Bruce asked and Tony rolled his eyes. His science bro should really know him better by now.

"Jarvis, pull up that video stream." Tony told his AI and a hologram appeared in the middle of the room. Tony smirked. "See, now all we have to do is watch and see what he does?" Tony said and Bruce nodded, walking further into the lab with Tony following close behind, the hologram following him.

"Well, in that case you've earned the Chocolate Mocha Dream you made me waste gas on." Bruce said as he grabbed Tony's drink and bags of other junk food, plopping on a coach after Tony did and laying the snack out on the table. The hologram stopped in front of them.

"Ya damn right. And watch, it probably won't take him long before he starts burning with curiosity." Tony said. At that moment, the guy decided to peek his blonde head from under his tentacles making Tony smirk, but his face dropped again when the merman only cowered further into the shadows, pulling his tentacles over him again.

"Nope, not long at all." Bruce mocked and Tony glared at him.


	3. Chapter 3

When Tony woke up he was immediately pissed. First, because Bruce's head was in his lap and he was drooling. Two, he had been sleeping when should have been watching out for the merman. But what made his heart sink in slight disappointment was that the screen was no longer showing the underwater scene of below Tony's deck but a brilliant blue sky. So obviously, the StarkPad had been moved. And he missed it!

Tony groaned and pushed Bruce on the floor, scrunching his face at the wet mess in his lap. Bruce hit the floor with a thud and he jolted awake, giving Tony a weak, sleepy glare.

"Ass." Bruce said as he ran a hand over his face. His hand touch the saliva on the side of his face and he looked at Tony -who was giving him an intense glare- then laughed before mumbling his apologies and laughing again. Tony growled as he rose to his feet and walked to the wardrobe he had in his lab. He often spent nights in his lab so Tony had plenty of cloths he could change into. "Aww man, he moved the pad." Tony heard Bruce say when the engineer stepped into the bathroom to switch out his spit-stained pants for clean ones.

"I know." Tony said as he walked out the bathroom. "But we can at least see what he did last. Jarvis, give us a playback." Tony said and the screen they were watching minimized to a square in the top right corner and the playback sprung up. They watched the octoman poke his head out again then slowly eased to the edge of the deck, giving a cautious glance up before sticking out a tentacle to grab the pad and pull it in. It was the weirdest thing to ever witness and to top it off, the sounds of his suctions cups attaching to the pad could be heard. It was creepy and awesome at the exact same time. The human cephalopod didn't even look at the pad as he raised his tentacle to place it back on the deck.

"Jarvis, when did this happen?" Bruce asked as he stared at the screen in amazement.

"Around ten minutes ago." Jarvis answered and Tony's jaw dropped. So the merman must have stayed hidden all night. Had he fallen asleep or was he that scared.

"There, do you see that." Bruce said, bumping Tony with his arm. Tony looked at the screen and shook his head. "Look, about three of his tentacles aren't moving." Bruce said. Tony cocked his as the video replayed and yeah, three of his tentacles were pretty much limp. They moved only a little. _"I wonder what happened to him."_ Tony thought, wondering if his disabled tentacles had anything to do with his seemingly extreme fear of humans. "Look!" Bruce said suddenly, pointing up at the present screen in the corner. The screen kept shifting but because of the angle, they couldn't see what was going on. The two leaped off the couch and ran to the backdoor, looking out the window. They were tinted so the two didn't have to worry about the merman seeing them. When Tony first had the windows tinted, his science bro told him that it was useless and unnecessary but oh didn't they come in handy. Tony would have made a snark about it but he saw one of the octoman's tentacles ease up on the deck, shifting around as if he were testing to see if someone was there. It kept stretching out further and further until it reached what Tony assumed was it's full length, which had to be a good seven feet or more; it almost touching the door. That was insane. Before long, a blonde head peered over the deck, peeking out to see if the coast was clear. When he saw there was no one around, he started retracting his tentacle while taking the pad into his hand, looking down at it curiously. A holographic imaged appeared beside them and the two scientist could see his facial expression even closer.

Up close he was even more beautiful, his eyes sparkled playfully and curiously as he examined the pad. Tony hadn't expected him to appear so lax and easygoing. Because he had been so fearful, he expected the merman to be tense. The merman kept pressing things on the screen, seemingly very interested in the device before music blared on the speakers and it startled the merman, making him throw the device out his hands and descend back into the water. But not for long. Soon he rose with his hands covering his ears while a tentacle desperately pecked the screen, obviously trying to shut the sound off. Bruce chuckled.

"Told you your music was terrible." Bruce said and Tony glared at him.

"Shut up." Tony grumbled and Bruce chuckled again.

The two quickly turned their attention back to the merman who now had his tentacle folded like a fist and was downright pounding on the pad. Finally the heavy metal shut off and jazz started playing. The octoman stopped assaulting device and smiled a little as the music played.

"Yes! I told you jazz was awesome." Bruce said and Tony huffed.

"He just doesn't know yet. Don't worry; when we get to meet him, i'll help him see the light." Tony said and Bruce shook his head.

The cephalopod started using his hands to press on the screen again until he reached something that made him pause and blush all over, leaning back.

"You didn't by chance happen to give him the StarkPad you use to take photos of all those one night stands you bring home, did you?" Bruce asked and Tony pursed his lips.

"It's not like he would know what it was anyway." Tony said, waving him off.

"The lower stuff, no, but I'm quite sure he knows what breast are." Bruce said, quirking and eyebrow.

"Jarvis, cancel whatever page he's on and bring up a page from one latest book downloads." Tony said quickly, suddenly feeling a burst of embarrassment. He rarely felt embarrassed for his philandering but this merman just seemed so innocent that he didn't want him to know his dirty little secrets.

Tony could tell when the screen switched because the octoman jumped a little but then became fully enthralled with the device when, as Tony assumed, words appeared on the screen. He pushed the device away long enough to hoist himself up on the deck and picked up the pad again, his tentacles writhing aimlessly as he read.

An eight legged merman thingy that liked to read...How was this Tony's life?

A brilliant plan suddenly popped into Tony's head.

"Bruce, can you be a pal and come save me if that octopus-man tries to attack me? Great, thanks for being a pal." Tony said before Bruce even had a chance to answer. Tony didn't even get to see his reaction because he ran upstairs so quickly, then went out a side door where he stored his kayak. Tony grabbed it and ran out to his beach as inconspicuously as he could so that the merman wouldn't see him but every time he glanced over his shoulder, the guy was still reading. Tony got as close to his house as he could without being seen and jumped in the kayak, paddling himself over to his home. He stayed very close to the rocks and stayed hidden until he came up to the side of his deck. He very, extremely slowly paddle up to the merman until he was finally right beside him and the octoman didn't even know it, being too enthralled with the tale he was reading.

"Hey" Tony said. He tried to keep his tone soft and soothing but he still shocked the guy to death. He jolted whipping towards Tony and dropping the pad. Then black stuff was squirted from seemingly now where right into Tony's face, blinding the shit out of the engineer. And he immediately started yelling and freaking out because FUCK THAT STUNG! He heard a splash and the uprising water washed some of the ink from his face but not nearly enough. It was still burning, a deep searing burn. But before too long, Tony found himself hoisted up onto the deck and water was thrown of his face, thankfully washing off the bulk of the ink.

"Shit Tony, are you alright?" Tony heard Bruce ask as his friend crouched down beside him. Tony was still breathing like every breathe was his last and his face was still stinging but he did manage to nod. "Are you sure?" Bruce asked. "All octopi are venomous."

"Yeah but I don't think his venom is fatal." Tony said as he gradually started to calm down, trying to wipe his face with his hands.

"We don't know that Tony. We don't even know what he is." Bruce said as he raised his wrist to Tony's forehead, checking his temperature. 

"I'm fine. I'm sure. I can feel the effects of it started to ware off already." Tony said truthfully. Bruce nodded cautiously and continued to search his face. And when he was sure Tony was alright, he laid on his side and laughed his ass off.

Tony was not amused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I hope this chapter didn't disappoint.


	4. Chapter 4

"The blood work says you're fine. It might sting for a while longer but you're not going to have any after affects like death." Bruce said in between giggles. Apparently he still found the incident highly amusing. Tony still didn't see what was so humorous.

"It wasn't that funny asshole." Tony said as he pulled on a clean shirt. He ended up having to take a shower because the ink got all over his cloths, pretty much ruining them.

"Actually yeah it was. Very funny." Bruce laughed and Tony gave him a very intense narrow glare.

"Sir, if I might interrupt," Jarvis said suddenly. "You might want to see this."

"Yeah Jarv, pull it up." Tony said, knowing it had something to do with the merman because they left the pad out on the deck when they came back into the lab in case the merman would come back for it. After Tony erased all his "pictures" of course.

A hologram of octoman holding the pad appeared in the middle of the room. The engineer thought the merman would have swam off deeper into the ocean since Tony scared him so but he was still there under the deck. Tony could see the wood behind the guy's broad, beautiful shoulders. The tentacled man kept looking between the pad and the deck; he looked so guilty and sorrowful. Like he had just stabbed the president and felt bad about it. Extremely bad.

"Why does he look like that?" Bruce asked as he stepped closer the the screen, then added, "And he's starting to look sort of pale, paler than when we first saw him." More as an observation to himself. Tony just shrugged; he hadn't noticed.

The merman pressed some things on the screen and then started typing something. When he was done, he handed it to one of his tentacles and then reached it up on the deck. Before they could even wonder what he was doing there was a soft knock on the back door. The two just froze and stared at the door in amazement. A moment later, there was another knock and they both ran towards the door like psychos. When they looked out the window, they saw a tentacle retracting off the deck with the StarkPad sitting on the ground in front of the door. Bruce looked at Tony and took a step back.

"I'll leave all interaction with the squidman to you." Bruce said and Tony glared at him.

"Chicken." Tony said as he opened the door with extreme caution. The last thing he wanted was another inking. "And he's not half squid, he half octopus." Tony said as he stepped outside slowly and picked up the pad.

ARE YOU OKAY?

Those were the words on the screen and wasn't that just so sweet. Tony couldn't help but to smile and he looked over the edge of the deck and there he was, just floating in the water, tentacles pulsing slightly to stay afloat, looking up at Tony. He was surfaced enough that Tony could see him and those beautiful, ocean blue eyes but deep enough that if Tony tried to come after him, the current would snatch him. Had Tony known that self injury would have - ugh no, nevermind, that inking was never something Tony wanted to experience again. The merman waved at him with a little with those same guilt ridden eyes as he had on the screen. Tony's smile grew and he waved back. And then it clicked -after an absurdly long time- that the person Tony kept seeing was this merman. So he's been hanging around Tony's house for a long while.

"Hey down there, hi, wow, you're really something, aren't you?" Tony said. The merman's expression barely changed as he spoke. If it did, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Can you hear me?" Tony asked. The guy paused then nodded shyly, and he started to swim...away, Tony thought but he actually just went down to the edge of the deck, surfacing at the end, peering over at Tony. Always maintaining a safe distance. Tony wished he knew what happened to make the poor thing so fearful.

"I didn't mean to hurt to you. You just scared me." Octoman said. He had an kind, honest voice. A beautiful voice.

"Yeah." Tony nearly snorted. "Remind me to never do that again." Tony said and the guy smiled slightly. "I'm fine by the way. And don't look so guilty about it, I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that." Tony said, looking the guy over. "So do you have a name?" The octoman swayed in the water for a moment before nodded.

"Steven." He answered. Tony smiled.

"Steven, that's a nice name. Did you know that it means victorious?" Tony said, the guy smiled a little and shook his head.

"What's your name?" Steve asked.

"Tony." The engineer said as he took a step towards him but Steve leaned back, his tentacles raising up, suction cups pointed towards Tony defensively. That's probably where his ink came from. Tony stopped immediately, raising his hands in surrender. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you again, I just...I've never seen anything or anyone like you." The blonde still eyed him warily but slowly lowered his tentacles. And since Tony was nothing if not a an experimentalist, he took a tentative step towards the guy again. All he did was glare at Tony slightly so the engineer continued to move towards him. He could practically hear Bruce's eyes rolling behind him.

"You're brave." Steve said when he reached him, floating back a little. Tony laughed.

"That's one way to put it." Tony said "So where are you from?" Steve's face dropped to the saddest expression, making Tony wish he had never asked.

"Metropis" Steve said simply.

"And I take it that's an underwater city?" Tony asked, figuring it was somewhere deeper in the ocean beyond his private beach. If so, why did Steve hang around his home?

Steve nodded, "Yeah but I don't...I don't know where. I'm kind of...out of sorts." Steve said with the most saddest look in his eyes. "This isn't even my native environment. The water here is hard to breath in. It's not as salty."

"How did you end up here then? Did you take a trip?" Tony asked. Steve shook his head.

"I was taken, me and my friends. Some dryfolks found our city and destroyed it." Steve said quietly, so extremely dismally. Tony wanted nothing more than to wrap him up and cuddle him for forever. "Then they took some of us. The ones that didn't get away. I escaped eventually but they chased me until I got here. So I stayed here." Steve said. Right, private property of a billionaire. "I didn't have energy for running to much more anyway. You know, my arms aren't even this color." Steve said. Tony's brow furrowed in confusion. Steve raised a tentacle on the deck and it clicked. Steve must consider his tentacles as extra arms. Well wasn't that interesting. "They're supposed to be pink like the rest of my body." Steve said. Tony looked at his...arm.

"Can I touch it?" Tony asked. Steve looked at him warily but nodded. Tony knelt down beside the tentacle and ran a finger up the surface. The engineer had expected it to be bumpy and rough but it felt like smooth, like human skin. Though it was slightly slimy but Tony figured that it was something his body created to make his passage through water easier. Tony kept trailing his finger up the tentacle until Steve jumped and he retracted his limb. "Shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." Tony said quickly, scooting back. Hoping to God Steve wouldn't ink him again.

"No, no, that wasn't your fault. You didn't know." Steve reassured him as he cautiously floated up to the deck, right next to Tony. The engineer was glad that Steve wasn't as fearful as he was when he first met (and inked) Tony. He turned his tentacle to the side and Tony saw a huge, nasty cut that went clean through Steve's thick, like five inches thick, tentacle. Tony continued to look up his limb and saw a few more cuts along it. "And these have healed during the months."

"What the hell happened to you? Are all your...arms injured?" Tony asked, wondering if those kidnappers had something to do with this.

"When they took us, they hooked us so that we wouldn't move and if we tried, the hooks would tear through. But they put us in small tanks and in one of those big, um, cars, I think that's what you call them and when it was moving, it would rock the tank and the hooks would tear even more. I have three arms that don't even move now. But they're all healing. Not as quickly as I would like for them to though." Steve said. Tony was just stunned into silence though.

"So, someone put actual hooks in your tentacles." Tony repeated. Steve nodded sadly. That was cruel beyond words. Tony wished he could find those bastards and give them taste of their own medicine. No wonder Steve was so fearful of humans. "Not all of us are assholes like that." Tony said sincerely. Steve didn't say anything, just looked at Tony cautious before he nodded a little. "And this is my property, that's why those bastards stopped chasing you but you can stay here for as long as you need to." Tony said. Steve smiled a little.

"Thank you." Steve said and Tony smiled back.

"No problem." Tony said as he looked down at Steve's tentacles. "You know, my friend Bruce knows a lot more about this than I do. Do you mind if he took a look at your arms?" Tony said. The merman looked at him warily for a moment before looking behind him at Bruce, Tony assumed. "We won't hurt you. I promise." Tony said. Steve looked at him studingly for a long time before he nodded. Tony turned and motioned for Bruce to come out to them. His friend looked at him as if he had lost his mind and shook his head. Tony nearly growled and motioned again. Bruce sighed and finally started to slowly and cautiously walk out towards them. Steve chuckled a little.

"Is he afraid of me?" Steve asked and Tony laughed.

"I think so. I think he's afraid you'll ink him like you did me." Tony said and Steve chuckled. Bruce finally reached them and cautiously nodded in Steve's direction.

"Hey, I'm Bruce." The biologist said.

"Steve" The merman said as he floated a little closer to Tony. Well didn't that just warm the engineers heart.

"So, Steve has this problem. He has these nasty cuts in his arms and they're not healing like they should so I was wondering if you could help." Tony said and Bruce looked at him strangely.

"His arms look fine..." Bruce trailed off when Tony inconspicuously nodded towards Steve's lower limbs. He looked at Tony as if he had lost his mind but then Steve quirked and eyebrow. "Oh his tentac-arms. His arms. Yeah, I can take a looked at them. For him." Bruce said, seeming more than a little flustered but Tony knew he would get over it. "So, you want to catch me up on what happened."

Steve nodded and told him his story again. At the end Bruce was just as troubled as Tony was but said he wanted to bandage Steve's tentacles but wanted to balm them with something that would that would help them heal quicker but since he's never met a half man half octopus creature before, he didn't know what stuff would work on him so ended up taking some of Steve's blood. But while they were going through all that, Tony was trying to think of some way to find those bastards who did this to Steve. And if he could do that, maybe he could help Steve get back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, i hope this chapter doesn't disappoint.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait peoples and as always I really hope this chapter isn't a disappointment.

Tony hated summer classes. He especially hated writing papers. What he loathed was writing a paper for a summer class that he wasn't even taking. But Bruce somehow convinced him to help write half of his research paper, since Tony was doing half of the experiment. Tony hated being a good friend.

An incessant tapping on his bedroom window broke Tony from his hard work. Which was fine, he needed a break anyway. What had Tony pausing was that window was some hundred odd feet above sea level. Not even Steve could reach that high. Tony got up from his desk and walked over to his window, pulling the curtains from his window to find a falcon standing on his windowsill. At first, Tony smiled because it was a beautiful creature but then he immediately frowned because he recognized this bird. About a year ago, when Tony first had his deck made, he went out one day to find a huge nest sitting in the middle of it with the falcon sitting there, looking at him as if he didn't have a care in this world. So of course Tony shooed him away and knocked down the nest. And not two seconds after he did, the bird pooped on his head. And Tony swore he heard the damn thing laugh as he flew away. And ever since then Tony's been trying to find the bastard so he could kill him.

And there he sat. On Tony's windowsill. The audacity!

Tony was going to open the window and try to wrap his hands around the thing's neck but it flew away when he tried to inconspicuously reach towards the lever making Tony sigh in disappointment but with that blasted bird gone, Tony could seed own to his deck. He could even see Steve under the water. Who appear to be...napping? on a nearby boulder. He always stayed visible and near the deck now since he had gotten to know Tony and Bruce during these past few weeks. It was unlike Steve. The tentacled-man was always energetic and up to something, especially since the two scientist bandaged his cuts. And if he needed to relax, he would read. But right now, the tablet was lying on the deck. Steve always kept the tablet with him. Tony didn't like it. He knew something was wrong so Tony decided to check on him.

When Tony got to the lab, he found Bruce sleeping on the couch. He had been sleeping...while Tony worked on HIS research paper? Tony grabbed a bucket before he walked outside, frowning when he saw Steve, even from underwater, Tony could tell he was very pale. When Steve saw him, he smiled weakly and sluggishly made his way to the deck, folding his arms and laying his head on them. He looked so tired and...ill. Could mermen get sick?

"Steve, you don't look so good. You feeling alright?" Tony asked as he sat on the edge of the deck beside Steve, who scooted a little closer, making Tony smile a little. Steve shrugged a little at first then shook his head. Tony reached out to touch the back of his hand to Steve's forehead. Steve used to flinch when he thought Tony or Bruce was going to touch him but lately they've seem to have gained at least a little of his trust. Tony hoped to keep it that way. But he was Tony Stark. He was bound to mess up at some point. Tony touched Steve's forehead and the blonde's skin was scorching hot. And since he was up close, Tony could tell that the discoloration that was covering Steve's tenta-arms, which had been decreasing lately, was starting to spread past Steve's naval (why Steve had a naval was beyond Tony and he was entirely to scared to ask).

"Whoa, you're burning up." Tony said, growing concerned. Steve looked up at him.

"What does that mean?" Steve asked. Tony figured, later, he'd asked Steve about the underwater healthcare system.

"It means you have a fever. I'm going to get Bruce. Stay here." Tony said, then shook his head. Where else would Steve go? The blonde just nodded slightly and laid his head back down, giving Tony a strange look when the scientist dunked the bucket he was carrying in the water, making sure it was full, trying his best to spill as little as possible as he wobble back into the lab. When he reached Bruce, he tossed the water on him. Bruce shot up, flailing. Seeing his struggle was so very deeply satisfying to Tony. When Bruce realized what had happened, he gave Tony a very intense death glare. While Tony just laughed.

"That's what you get for sleeping while I write your paper. But anyway, I think Steve is sick." Tony said as he started walking towards the back door, motioning for Bruce to follow. The other scientist grabbed some things before he hustled behind Tony. When Bruce got to Steve, his face immediately dropped to concern. He checked Steve's temperature and his eyes. His frown deepened and he went back inside the lab, rummaging around.

"Bruce, everything okay?" Tony called out because Bruce's behavior was making him nervous. Tony looked down at Steve, resisting the urge to run his fingers through his blonde hair. He didn't want to freak Steve out with too much too soon but the poor thing just looked so weak.

"Well, I just..." Bruce trailed off when he walked back outside. He had two vials in his hand, one with a blue cap and one green. They were half filled with something red.

"Is that Steve's blood?" Tony asked, wondering what in the world Bruce was up to.

"The one with the green top is. The blue one is yours." Bruce said as he knelt down, using an eyedropper to fill both vials with water from the ocean.

"Where the hell did you get my blood?!" Tony nearly yelled. Bruce just shrugged as he shook the vials. The green-capped one stayed red. The one with Steve's blood turned black. That couldn't have been good.

"What does that mean?" Tony whispered, moving to stand close to Bruce. He didn't want whatever bad news he was about to hear to alarm Steve who was looking up at them curiously. Bruce looked down at Steve in worry.

"I think someone has been contaminating the water." Bruce whispered back. That startled Tony.

"What the hell? Why?" Tony asked, immediately looking around, wandering who could and would get close enough to poison the water. And it couldn't have been from their experiment, they ran that in another lake, far from Tony's house.

"Well, he did say some people chased him here, right?" Bruce asked. Tony nodded. "They're probably trying to drive him back out to the open ocean then. They're probably hoping that if the water is hard for him to breath in, he'll just leave. Tony took in a deep breath, wishing he could find those bastards. Why won't they just leave Steve alone. "The water running in the house comes from the ocean, right?" Bruce asked. Tony nodded. "The filtering system must be catching it then because your blood is clean." Bruce said.

"It should. I built it by hand." Tony said, the very bases of a plan starting to formulate in the back of his mind. "What should we do with Steve?" Tony whispered, looking down and taking a step back when he noticed Steve had (stealthily) floated closer to them, trying to listen to their conversation.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Steve asked, sounding so very worried. As he should be. Tony sighed, glancing at Bruce. He figured they'd have to tell Steve eventually. Though Tony would rather it be after they figured out a solution to this problem.

"We're going to tell you Steve, just give us a moment to figure something out." Tony said, knowing that was asking for a lot of trust from Steve but he really didn't want to scare him. Steve gave him a dubious look for a moment before he nodded.

"Steve, how long can you breath outside of water?" Bruce asked Steve as he knelt down to the merman's level.

"Around four hours." Steve said. Bruce nodded. Tony really wanted to ask how Steve's respiratory system worked but now was neither the time nor the place. Right now he had to finish this plan on what to do to save Steve. Tony looked back into his lab, making sure they would have plenty enough room to do this. Well, if Steve agreed to go along with it. He pulled Bruce off to the side.

"I think we should move Steve inside the lab." Tony started. Bruce's brow furrowed in confusion but he let Tony continue. "I was thinking we could build a huge...I don't want to say aquarium but you know. A huge tub, I guess, and move Steve in. That way we can build it with a pumping drawing in water from the ocean-"

"And build the filtration system with it." Bruce said, catching on. They both took a step to the other side of the deck when Steve tried to float closer to them. He sighed, and laid his head on the side, on his arms. Hopefully giving up. But they both knew Steve better than to believe that. He was as stubborn as an ox.

"And that way you can infuse the antibiotics in the water since Steve can breathe it in since he didn't like the medicine last time." Tony said, chuckling as he remember how Steve spat out the cherry flavored liquid Bruce gave him, threatening to ink Bruce if he ever gave it to him again.

"I'm not taking anymore of your so called medicine." Steve said suddenly, shocking the hell out of both of them. They looked down to find that Steve had pushed himself up on the deck and scooted up to them. He pulled some of his tentacles under him, the three that were well enough anyway, and pushed himself up to their height. Tony wrapped an arm around his waist because Steve was swaying. And Tony tried desperately to ignore how awkward it was to stand beside a half man, half octopus creature. Bruce looked about ready to laugh.

"So do either of you mind telling me what's going on?" Steve said. Tony sighed, resisting the urge to push Steve back into the water. But at least now they had a plan. It was just a question of whether Steve trusted them enough to follow through with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh and I added some tags. You might want to chek those so u know where this fic is headed somewhat.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so, so, soooooooo sorry it has taken me over 2 years to update this story. I really am. Hopefully it won't take me that long to update again!
> 
> I hope you like this super late chapter and I hope it feels consistent.

"I hope you have enough room. I used all the free space I had in my lab so you can move around." Tony said, watching Steve climb up onto the little space of the deck that was left.

The thick plexiglass tub took up most of his basement lab and extended out onto the deck so Steve could go outside. Below the structure was the water filter and drain was so that Steve could have continuous clean water.

Tony had thought this would have reminded the merman of being kidnapped, since then he had been locked in an aquarium-like prison but the merman accepted their plan a lot more readily than Tony expected. Even now, he seemed totally chill with having to hang out with them in a damn near fish tank for the next few months. Potentially longer. Probably longer.

"This is so cool! I've never been inside a landfolk's home." Steve said, as he extended some of his arms up the side of the wall then used his other arms to push himself up so he could reach the top.

The outside part of the tub had tall, twelve foot walls that sloped down to the height of the roof and stayed that way will inside the building. To keep the water contained, the was a hood on the sloping part and a thick door between the outside and inside that held the extra water until the door was shut. They made it tall so Steve could stretched out if he wanted too. And Steve was...long? huge? He needed all the room he could get.

When Steve's arms reached the top, he started to pull himself up, using the suction from his other arms to attach to the wall for balance as he climbed.

Seeing Steve stretched out like that, in all his tentacled glory, was the coolest, weirdest thing ever. But it brought to surface that Steve wasn't quite human. He almost looked like one; definitely acted like one; and he, most certainly, was a person.

But Steve and an entire city population, somewhere in the deep blue, we're not quite human...and most of the world didn't even know about it.

"Are you okay? Don't hurt your arms." Bruce said. Steve chuckled.

"You're a coddler; you know that." was Steve's reply. Bruce glared at him. "Im fine. Besides, how else am I supposed to get up here?"

Very true. It wasn't like they could build stairs for him or lift him.

"I mean it's not the open ocean, but hopefully you'll have enough room." Tony repeated. He felt like he was confining Steve. He didn't want the merman to feel the way he had when he was kidnapped.

"I think it'll be perfect Tony. Thank you so much. Both of you." Steve said genuinely as he continued to climb. "It's not like I've been able to roam the ocean anyway this past year."

"Year?" Tony said, completely baffled. "You've been in my backyard for a year?"

"Yeah. Maybe a little over." Steve said as he reached the top, swung over the edge, and descended down into the tub. He swam from one side to the other, then up and down. Then gave Tony and Bruce a thumbs up and proceeded down the slope. The scientists followed him on the outside to make sure the door opened properly.

But of course it did. Tony built it and Tony didn't make mistakes when it came to engineering.

Steve went through to the other side and popped up when he was inside the lab, gasping an impressed, "Whoa!"

"You like it?" Tony asked. Bruce had rounded the aquarium and was practically hovering around Steve, bubbling with pent up Mother-henning. But Steve didn't seem to mind as he looked at all the objects around him.

"Yeah, this is super amazing." Steve said, "Do you only build things in here?" Steve asked.

Tony nodded. "For the most part, yeah."

"So this is like a smith's room? The place where you build all your crafts." Steve said as he followed the edge of the aquarium, looking at the things on the wall and picking up the things within his reach. Tony moved most of his lab stuff up to the attic. It was bigger than the basement anyway and he was already kind of using it as an extra lab.

"I think so. We call them workshops." Tony said, amazed by Steve's amazement to his new surroundings.

But more questions had been brought to light. Like, why did Steve speak English? And how did he know how to operate a StarkPad even though he hadn't seen that much technology back in Metropis (Tony assumed because, you know, electricity, water, and people don't really mix well together).

Tony watched Steve grab a beaker and look at it (he made sure everything in Steve's reach was safe for the merman to touch). He was trying decide on which of his many questions to ask first when Bruce finally popped, and asked Steve to hand over his arms so he could make sure he was okay. Steve continued to study the things new to him as he lifted an arm, one by one, over the edge of the aquarium so Bruce could inspect them. Steve didn't even seem bothered. He probably knew Bruce's concern was sincere.

Tony looked out the window at the night sky, fighting back a yawn. He was tired; he and Bruce had spent every waken moment working on the aquarium...tub... aquaritub.

So, Tony was looking forward to sleeping forever. Just as soon as he knew Steve would be alright.

"Are you absolutely sure the tub isn't too small?" Tony asked.

Steve nodded. "Yes, rooms in my old house wasn't this big." The merman said. "And I can go outside if I need space."

And nope, Tony was not going to ask about housing in an underwater city right now. He was going to file that away for later because discussing Steve's aquamarine life could probably take all of forever.

"Alright, so, I'm sure Tony is as tired as I am so we're gonna..." Bruce started then stopped, cocking his head curiously. Then rubbed his eyes they way he did when he fucked up something.

"What?" Steve asked, swimming to the edge of the aquaritub.

"I'm just becoming fully aware of how unprepared we are." Bruce said. "There's so much we don't know about you Steve. Do you sleep in a bed? Do you keep the same hours we do? Are you hungry? What do you eat? I mean, all we've given you is a room and I feel like you're going to need more than that to survive."

Holy...shit...now that Tony was thinking about it, they had forgotten to ask a shit ton of questions before they finalized this plan. And since Steve was no longer in his natural habitat, he couldn't really help himself.

"Oh...," Steve said, his face scrunched in confusion. "I don't know if your beds are the same as ours but Octonaries usually sleep in what we call bowls but I'll be fine because I'll be doing the exact same thing." Steve said and he might as well had spoken in an entirely different language. Their faces must have have sung their confusion because he quickly clarified. "Like, we sleep in corners because we cover ourselves with our arms and we naturally blend with in with our environment. Look..." Steve curled his tentacles around himself, sticking to the side of the tub. His arms change to the white color of the wall behind him. So. Fucking. Cool.

Tony just stared at Steve in complete wonderment because he was standing in his once bland basement that was now full with a huge ass aquarium that was housing a balled up octopus man and this was his life. This was totally his life and Tony wouldn't change it for anything else in the world.

"So yeah," Steve said when he unballed, but mostly stayed stuck to the tub , "I'll be fine and I eat...I don't know what landfolk calls it. Um, most meats and...lettuce, I think that's what you call it.

"...Algea?" Bruce clarified. "The green stuff that grows in the water, Algea?"

Steve face scrunched, "Algea? That sounds like a disease."

Tony clapped his hands as he realized something. "Yes, you've been here for well over a year because that's why I built my deck. I noticed that all the Algea disappeared."

Steve's eyes got wide and his voice shy. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to steal it. I didn't know landfolk ate it too. I stored most of it if you want it back"

Tony shook his head, "No, it's fine. We don't eat it. We usually try to get rid of it. Which is what I was going to do but I noticed that the problem sort of cured itself. And now I know why."

"Wait, stored?" Bruce cut in. "Where?"

"Under the rocks." Steve said. "It's primitive but it works."

"And by meats, you mean fish, right? The animals that float in the water?" Bruce asked.

"Yes," Steve answered, "But only certain kinds. We avoid the ones with a lot of small bones because they can get stuck in our open skin."

...soooooooo many questions. Tony was burning with so many questions.

"But you guys don't have to worry about it now. I'll be perfectly fine until tomorrow." Steve said. And Tony could have tongue kissed him because he was way too tired for this conversation.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Tony had to ask. Because he wanted nothing but comfort for Steve. The merman had suffered so much just because he existed. How fucked up was that?

"Perfectly! I mean, I can't thank you guys enough. You have no idea how great it feels to be able to...breathe again." Steve said with a carefully casual smile. But there was so much in his words, so much sentiment there than just the physical difficulty to breathe. But then it was every bit of the physical too because the poison in the water was causing Steve's respitory system to collapse in addition to contaminating his bloodstream.

And Tony wanted nothing more than to find the assholes responsible and give them a taste of their own medicine.

Tony had bedrooms in his basement so the three, Steve convinced Bruce to stay instead of going to his own home, said their good-nights (for some reason, the people of Metropis say good Nacht; where did they learn that random German word) and Tony and Bruce turned in for a very long sleep.

If only Tony could sleep. The scientist couldn't help but worry. Who were the people chasing Steve? And if they were so hellbent of getting their talons on him, then would they really care if he was under Tony's meager protection. Seriously, they drugged the water (somehow) without any regard to the owner of the house who would also have to drink that VERY water so would it be so much of a stretch that they would break into Tony's home to kidnap Steve again?

Tony had some precautions up like some inconspicuous cameras that Jarvis operated and little homemade, Home Alone-esque, devices hidden around a his property to catch someone unawares but how effective would that be in the long run?

And if they were this terrible to an escapee, what the hell were they doing to the...merpeople? (Holy Crap, Tony just realized Steve referred to himself as an...Octonary?...huh...fancy that) that were still captured? How were these truly awful assholes treating the other merpeople?

It wasn't even a choice at this point, Tony had to do something about this. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't at least try.

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you enjoyed it. :D
> 
> Please leave feedback and feel free to criticize; I am always looking for opportunities to grow.
> 
> I’ve launched an E-Zine where people submit their favorite fics and the best ones get published in the zine. I’m doing this because I want to create something that acknowledges fanfic writers and makes them feel confident about themselves while bringing people of different fandoms together. To submit your favorite fics, go [Here](https://goo.gl/forms/h0LI8s7WGgZV2gBl1)


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